Written Answers Friday 27 October 2006

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider implementing a fast-track procedure to introduce a ban on alcohol consumption in specific public places.

Cathy Jamieson: To date, byelaws have been confirmed banning alcohol consumption in specific public places in over 480 towns and villages across Scotland. We will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that byelaws are workable and proportionate. It is important that proper consideration is given to the making of byelaws and that members of the public are given a chance to raise objections. Steps have been taken by the Executive to improve turnaround times. We will publish revised guidance for local authorities on the confirmation process and content of byelaws in the near future.

Culture

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent in each year since 1999 by (a) VisitScotland and (b) Executive departments or other agencies in promoting the Edinburgh (i) International Festival, (ii) Festival Fringe, (iii) Film Festival and (iv) Book Festival.

Patricia Ferguson: The information is not held centrally in the form requested. Details of specific funding provided by the Executive through its agencies are set out in the following tables:

  Edinburgh Festivals (inc. Winter Festivals)

  

Year
Amount (£)
Agency


2005-06
528,000
VisitScotland



  Around £500,000 of the money from VisitScotland was media spend which was put towards a series of TV and cinema adverts which included clips from the festivals. £14,000 was given to the Joint Festivals Marketing Group for the production of an electronic media kit to target potential customers through news and travel broadcasts. £5,000 was used to part fund the post of a travel press officer for the Edinburgh Festivals, while an estimated £9,000 was spent on press trip activity.

  Edinburgh International Festival

  

Year
Amount (£)
Agency


1999-2000
775,000
Scottish Arts Council


2000-01
1,475,000
Scottish Arts Council


2001-02
975,500
Scottish Arts Council


2002-03
1,090,665
Scottish Arts Council


2003-04
1,459,526
Scottish Arts Council


2004-05
1,242,131
Scottish Arts Council


2005-06
1,207,478300,000
Scottish Arts Council Event Scotland



  Edinburgh Festival Fringe

  

Year
Amount (£)
Agency


1999-2000
170,316
Scottish Arts Council


2000-01
43,281
Scottish Arts Council


2001-02
60,033
Scottish Arts Council


2002-03
25,700
Scottish Arts Council


2003-04
2,250
Scottish Arts Council


2004-05
34,165
Scottish Arts Council


2005-06
57,015
Scottish Arts Council



  Edinburgh International Film Festival

  

Year
Amount (£)
Agency


1999-2000
101,000
Scottish Screen


2000-01
22,000
Scottish Screen


2001-02
121,000
Scottish Screen


2002-03
71,000
Scottish Screen


2003-04
22,000
Scottish Screen


2004-05
126,000
Scottish Screen


2005-06
222,00050,000
Scottish Screen Event Scotland



  Edinburgh International Book Festival

  

Year
Amount (£)
Agency


1999-2000
62,500
Scottish Arts Council


2000-01
96,081
Scottish Arts Council


2001-02
208,910
Scottish Arts Council


2002-03
192,510
Scottish Arts Council


2003-04
220,612
Scottish Arts Council


2004-05
167,039
Scottish Arts Council


2005-06
161,8126,000
Scottish Arts Council Event Scotland



  The Scotlandistheplace campaign set aside £50,000 for Edinburgh Festivals advertising-sponsorship in 2006.

Employment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been employed in the printing sector in (a) Scotland and (b) Edinburgh in each year since 1997.

Nicol Stephen: Table 1 shows the number of employee jobs in Edinburgh and Scotland in the printing sector. Due to changes in the data between 2002 and 2003 there is a discontinuity with the data therefore comparisons between data from 2003 onwards with data prior to 2003 should be used with caution

  Table 1: Employee Jobs in Printing Sector - Edinburgh and Scotland – 1997-2004

  

 
City of Edinburgh
Scotland


1997
1,800
10,700


1998
2,400
11,800


1999
2,100
11,600


2000
1,800
10,300


2001
1,800
9,900


2002
1,500
10,100


2003
1,300
9,200


2004
1,500
8,900



  Notes:1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.2. The printing industry is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 22.23. 1997-2002 figures are based on SIC 1992 codes and 2003-2004 figures are based on SIC 2003 codes. This may lead to a discontinuity in levels.4. Data for 1997–2002 are based on 1991 census wards. Data for 2003-04 are based on 2003 CAS wards.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed as suffering from clinical obesity in each NHS board area in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally in the format requested.The Scottish Health Survey 2003 gives the prevalence of obesity in those aged 16 and over by local NHS board areas. Details can be found at:http://www.scotpho.org.uk/web/site/home/Clinicalriskfactors/Obesity/obesity_data/obesity_nhsboard.asp.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with morbid obesity have received surgery in order to aid weight reduction in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not available in the format requested. Current coding systems are not sensitive enough to distinguish obese from morbidly obese patients, nor is there a single code to identify surgery to aid weight loss.

Homelessness

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address homelessness in (a) East Lothian, (b) South Lanarkshire and (c) the Scottish Borders, in light of the increase in homelessness between 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is working with local government and partners on a wide range of actions to prevent and tackle homelessness, and is co-ordinating the work needed to carry out the 59 recommendations made by the Homelessness Task Force (HTF) in 2002. For example, the Executive has recently commissioned research into local authorities’ prevention activities and will use the results of this research to develop guidance. It is also strengthening support for prevention work through an Innovation Fund which is now funding eight new local projects in seven local authorities.

  The Annual Report on the HTF recommendations summarises progress made against each of the recommendations and can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Housing/homeless/H-M-G

  The recent ministerial statement on the abolition of priority need also sets out what the Executive and its partners plan to do to ensure that by 2012 all unintentionally homeless people will have access to permanent accommodation. This can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/12/21133010/30107

  It is for individual local authorities to define the causes of homelessness in their areas and set out their actions for addressing these, in their homelessness strategies. The Executive issues guidance to all local authorities on how the latter should comply with their statutory duties under the homelessness legislation, and gives funding to all local authorities to carry out their homelessness activities. The Executive is also funding two secondees (from local authorities) to work closely with all local authorities to ensure that the latter are fully prepared for the abolition of priority need.Communities Scotland inspect local authorities’ homelessness and housing functions, and can monitor performance post-inspection via improvement plans developed by local authorities and agreed by Communities Scotland.The Executive monitors local authorities’ activities through five top level outcomes as defined in the ministerial statement on the abolition of priority need. The Executive also publishes six-monthly statistical bulletins on local authorities’ activities in carrying out their duties under the legislation. The most recent bulletin can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/25151544/0.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take against NHS Ayrshire and Arran following the absconding of a restricted patient from Ailsa Hospital, Ayr, for the second time in four months.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will conduct an inquiry into the circumstances of a restricted patient absconding for a second time from Ailsa Hospital, Ayr.

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to review its procedures following a restricted patient at Ailsa Hospital, Ayr, absconding twice in four months.

Lewis Macdonald: We have instructed Ayrshire and Arran Health Board to conduct a Critical Incident Review, and report to us this month.

  In addition, we will shortly appoint an inquiry team which will consider the decisions and events that led to the abscond and report to us on completion of their inquiry.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all protocols regarding restricted patients were followed in the decision to transfer Mark Biggley from the State Hospital, Carstairs, to Ailsa Hospital, Ayr.

Lewis Macdonald: Yes.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact on police resources has been of each occasion on which Mark Biggley has absconded from Ailsa Hospital, Ayr.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not available centrally.

Mediation Services

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-1257 by Cathy Jamieson on 5 February 2004, what further action has been taken to encourage greater use of mediation services.

Hugh Henry: The Executive supports a range of measures designed to achieve early resolution of disputes and the resolution of disputes outwith the formal court system. We provide funding for a range of mediation services including funding of around £70,000 per annum for two new In-Court Mediation pilots introduced in Aberdeen and Glasgow this year. The Scottish Mediation Network (SMN) have been awarded £110,820 this year, allowing them to undertake projects that raise public awareness and understanding of mediation and to develop a quality assurance scheme within the mediation sector. The Executive are also providing core funding of £141,365 and a training grant of £37,671 for Family Mediation Scotland allowing families to reach agreement through mediation. Further, ten Local Family Mediation Services have been awarded £643,152 in funding this year. The new civil justice "Advice Finder" website launched in May reinforces the Executive’s support and further promotes the use of mediation.

Ministerial Correspondence

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance in answering ministerial correspondence was in the first and second quarters of 2006.

Ms Margaret Curran: In the answer to question S1W-24583, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbers of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them.

  In the quarter January to March 2006, 8,144 letters were received by ministers of which 83% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.In the quarter April to June 2006, 6,968 letters were received by ministers of which 83% received a reply within our target of 20 working days.

NHS Waiting Times

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) longest wait has been for patients with morbid obesity to receive surgery in order to aid weight reduction in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information requested is not available. Current coding systems are not sensitive enough to distinguish obese from morbidly obese patients, nor is there a single code to identify surgery to aid weight loss.

Prison Service

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners are currently on heroin substitutes, broken down by heroin substitute and prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The most common medicine prescribed in the clinical management of drug dependency is methadone. The following table sets out the number of prisoners at each establishment being prescribed methadone on 25 August 2006, which is the latest information readily available.

  

Establishment
No. of Prisoners


Aberdeen
54


Barlinnie
307


Cornton Vale
64


Dumfries
12


Edinburgh
151


Glenochil
92


Greenock
50


Inverness
8


Kilmarnock
124


Low Moss
46


Open Estate
52


Perth
41


Peterhead
0


Polmont
7


Shotts
132



  Dihydrocodeine and Buprenorphine are also prescribed, particularly in relation to detoxification regimes, but information on the number of prisoners currently receiving such treatment is not readily available.

Prison Service

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the next review of prison procedures to reduce access to illicit drugs is due.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service continually reviews its strategy to tackle the trafficking of controlled drugs into prisons in Scotland. We work closely with external agencies to catch people who try to introduce drugs into our prisons.

Renewable Energy

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what spare capacity is available on the national grid to transmit power from renewable sources.

Nicol Stephen: The operational management of grid capacity is a matter for the regulator (Ofgem) and the owners and operators of the electricity grid. The grid networks in Scotland are currently owned and operated by Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power in their respective areas, whereas the transmission network operator is National Grid. The Scottish Executive has discussions with these bodies on a regular basis.

  The Forum for Renewable Energy Development is Scotland (FREDS) examined grid capacity, constraints and upgrades in its 2005 report, Scotland’s Renewable Energy: Realising The 2020 Target. The report found that the key upgrades for which Ofgem has approved funding could allow the connection of 6.3 gigawatts (GW) of generation applications. The report concluded that these upgrades could accommodate 4.8GW of installed renewable capacity, over and above what is already installed and consented.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving to increasing the budgets of local authorities to enable them to meet their obligations to maintain roads, pavements, bridges, street lighting and all other matters relating to the transport infrastructure for which they are responsible.

Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-28678 on 24 October 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from MSPs representing Aberdeen constituencies regarding the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Tavish Scott: Many representations on the north east region have been made from MSPs representing Aberdeen constituencies with regards to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Street Lighting

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the increased risks in respect of (a) road traffic accidents and (b) attacks on individuals if street lighting is turned off or dimmed during hours of darkness.

Tavish Scott: Such an assessment is a matter for local authorities throughout Scotland, which have a duty under section 122 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of vehicles and other traffic, including pedestrians, on roads for which they are responsible. It is for each local authority to exercise its judgement as to the likely impact of its actions, and to discuss such issues with appropriate agencies such as local police forces.

Correction

The reply to question S2W-16919, which was originally answered on 8 June 2005, has been corrected: see page 9047 or http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-06/wa1023.htm.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Community Outreach

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, further to the answer to question S2W-28163 by Duncan McNeil on 18 September 2006, which constituencies have received more than one community outreach event since the Outreach Services Team was established in September 2004.

Duncan McNeil: Further to the information given in response to question S2W-28163, since the Outreach Services team was established in September 2004, 41 community outreach events involving MSPs have been held across Scotland. The following constituencies have hosted more than one community outreach event since September 2004: Western Isles; Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber; Dundee West; Angus; Galloway and Upper Nithsdale; Gordon; Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross; Clydesdale; Ochil.